The meaning of our staff awards

To find out what winning an AWP award really means, we caught up with 2015 volunteers' award winner Justin Brown.

As a volunteer with the Bristol Autism Spectrum Service (BASS), Justin worked closely with the team to help people understand and accept autism and to give service users the support they needed.  

Justin said, "It felt like a big achievement to win the volunteer award and to represent the BASS team on the night, who I have great respect for and am proud to have worked for over the past couple of years.

 "The road to winning the volunteer award meant that I sometimes had to step outside my comfort zone to help service users. Volunteering with BASS gave me a sense of purpose, structure and the ability to meet and help people on the autism spectrum and promote autism in our community."

"I now have the confidence to approach members of the public and talk to them without being frightened or worried about embarrassing myself. I have learnt to accept myself for who I am and this has helped me to achieve my ambitions in life."

Justin now works as a volunteer at Southmead Hospital where he continues to support many staff including AWP teams. To find out more about Justin's experiences and thoughts on working for BASS, you can watch this short video clip. 

Our staff awards mean a lot to a great deal of people. Not just the winners- nominating a member of staff is a special way to say thank you or to recognise the brilliant work they do. The person you nominate will be informed as soon as your nomination is received.

So why not click here, nominate a member of staff and make someone's day!